Shopping carts have been utilized for many years by customers in grocery stores, discount stores and the like to permit handling and transporting of merchandise. For a substantial number of years, one widely used form of shopping cart known as an "over-the-counter" cart has its goods-carrying basket supported on a raised frame so that the basket can be positioned directly over the checkout counter to facilitate direct access to the goods by the cashier.
In this conventional over-the-counter shopping cart, the basket is typically constructed of welded wire rod and is provided with a baby seat assembly (typically referred to as a "box baby seat") adjacent the rear thereof. The baby seat assembly normally has the seat part thereof disposed substantially coplanar with the basket bottom. The seat back is typically hingedly joined adjacent its lower edge so that it can be swingably moved from its upright position rearwardly to overlie the seat bottom when in a closed position, thereby opening up the entirety of the basket and baby seat assembly for storage of merchandise. Alternately, some shoppers use the baby seat area as a subcompartment for storage of goods. With this conventional over-the-counter cart, however, the back can not be folded down when goods are stored in the baby seat area. In such instance, the cashier has difficulty reaching the goods stored behind the seat back.
In an attempt to facilitate access to goods stored in the baby seat area when the seat back is in its raised position, one over-the-counter cart has been developed wherein the seat back is hinged forwardly into the basket, rather than rearwardly as has been conventional. This cart is illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,882 (now Re No. 32 453). While such arrangement does make it easier for the cashier to gain access to the goods stored behind the upright back of the baby seat assembly, nevertheless this arrangement possesses many of the same disadvantages associated with prior conventional carts, namely disadvantages associated with cost and complexities involved in manufacturing the baby seat assembly particularly due to the associated parts required for latching the seat back in its upright condition.
Another similar shopping cart of the over-the-counter type involving a front-folding baby seat back is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,180. The mounting and latching arrangement in this cart permits the upright back to be selectively folded either forwardly or rearwardly. While this does provide increased flexibility in terms of movement of the seat back for storage purposes, nevertheless the overall arrangement is somewhat costly to manufacture in view of the nature of the structural and functional arrangements involved.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a baby seat assembly for an over-the-counter shopping cart, and in particular relates to a baby seat arrangement which facilitates access by a cashier to goods stored in the baby seat area, but which can by manufactured and assembled very economically while at the same time providing desirable durability.
In the improved over-the-counter cart of this invention, the seat back of the baby seat assembly is provided with a supporting wall which is spaced upwardly a significant distance from the seat bottom. This supporting wall has opposite edges thereof joined to upright legs of generally L-shaped supports, which upright legs at their lower ends are joined to horizontal legs which extend along the seat bottom and at their rearward ends are hinged adjacent the rear wall of the assembly. The back can be readily hinged upwardly into a storage position wherein the supporting wall projects over the rear wall and generally over the handle of the cart. When swinging into this storage position, the supporting wall is elevated so as to pass over goods stored in the baby seat area to thereby permit access to such goods by the cashier.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with carts of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.